Geeks

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I was having a certification training session last night with my new instructor. She was trying to ease me into the fact that this is going to take a lot of studying, and when I told her, "Don't worry. I'm actually a pretty big nerd, so studying isn't going to be an issue for me," her response was along the lines of, "Me too!"

It occurred to me, if it hadn't occurred before, that dancing tends to attract a lot of geeks. I've attributed this to a number of causes, from revenge of the socially awkward and athletically disinclined, to the fact that lessons are expensive and the smarter you are the easier it is to get a well-paying job to afford the lessons. Last night, though, I had another thought.

About a year ago, Geek Girl What Rules posted a blog about how the defining element of geekdom is not belonging to a subculture but research. A geek, she claimed, was someone who is passionate enough about a subject - any subject - enough to research it, often painstakingly over many periods. Thus geeks tend to be associated with fandoms, like Star Trek, and complex games, like Dungeons and Dragons, because they afford the most opportunity for research. At this point you can probably see where I'm going with this.

Dancing affords an opportunity for research nearly unparalleled in the athletic world and easily the equal of anything in the art world. Whether one cares about the technique or the history, the music or the world of competition, there is a surplus of areas that can be reserached and explored, to say nothing of the painstaking physical and intellectual process of perfecting one's own dancing. Go to any college competition and you'll see far more computer science and engineering majors on the floor than art or dance majors. Heck, when I was in school the science fiction club and ballroom dance club had a nearly 70% overlap. Nowadays when I talk to serious dancers it doesn't take much to find some sort of trait or interest generally considered geeky or nerdy.

Has anyone else noticed this? How many of you would describe yourselves as geeks?

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Similar to, though not quite what I was referring to. Computers are another area where a deep drive for research and the long-term build up of technical skills will yield great rewards, so it's no surprise that's an area heavily populated by geeks.

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Similar to, though not quite what I was referring to. Computers are another area where a deep drive for research and the long-term build up of technical skills will yield great rewards, so it's no surprise that's an area heavily populated by geeks.

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I am the stereotypical geek in many respects--not computers, but sci-fi/fantasy, complete with arguing about minutiae, being a twitcher with a life list (I may never forgive my brother for living in Florida and lucking into a Whooping Crane migrating with Sandhills), knowing far more about horse racing than is healthy for someone who doesn't make an effort to go bet, oddly enough, I've only picked up a sylabus long enough to look through it, realize it might as well be writing in Urdu, and put it down again. I'm a dork about thinks like who knows who and who studied with whom, but the threads on Standard send me fleeing because I cannot image disecting my movements to that degree.

I guess even my geekiness only goes so far.

Oh: the people who referred me to my studio and got me into ballroom? D&Ders. Big time gamers.

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Yes, I would agree that dancing does attract geeks. I have many students that are geeks. My professional students also have a lot of geek students.....and yes I have often been told that I am a total geek.